Born on this day in Cincinnati, Ohio, Spielberg said, "I can always trace a movie idea back to my childhood." He had a passion for film-making at an early age and called it "a hobby that grew out of control and consumed me."

Of his 1974 film The Sugarland Express, critic Pauline Kael wrote, "This is one of the most phenomenal debut films in the history of movies." The following year, Jaws emerged from the depths of his imagination to scare moviegoers and rule the world-wide box office.

Spielberg had a remarkable year in 1993. His dino flick, Jurassic Park (filmed in Kauai by the way), was a mega hit. He also released his project of passion, Schindler's List, a haunting masterpiece that finally earned him the Best Director and Best Picture Oscars. The black and white epic was an unforgettable education about the horrors of the Holocaust and reaffirmed the power of the human spirit.

About directing Schindler's List, he said, "I didn't want to do anything that would be disrespectful to the true nature of those events and those times. I had to let the facts tell the story."

In accepting another Best Director Academy Award, this time for his courageous World War II film Saving Private Ryan (1998, w/Tom Hanks) he said, "Am I allowed to say I really wanted this?"